Lovely article. I am a Baha’i living in Canada. I hope it’s ok that I’m posting on here since I am not a Mid-East Youth but was searching information about Baha’is and Morocco as I am going there soon.

I am asked frequently by people unfamiliar with the Baha’i Faith about the separate religion/sect of Islam issue and have found the easiest way to explain it is that the Baha’i Faith is rooted in Shi’a Islam in the same way that Christianity is rooted in Judaism.

As for teaching Islam in the West – even before I became a Baha’i I “taught about Islam in the West” in a way because it is quite misunderstood here and I had been studying it [and the other major world faiths] for some time – to be specific I “taught” what I learned about Islam and by which I mean the Islam that Muslims believe in [this article is getting harder and harder to articulate in!]. I was unfamiliar with the exhortation to teach but I feel it boils down to teaching the virtues of the faith that people may be unfamiliar with. I find it interesting to note that at the time of the Baha’u'llah most of what “The West” would have known would have been from the crusades [or perhaps Mediterranean trade] and thus very unfamiliar giving justification for sharing the virtues of Islam, but the need seems ever more now with the chronic misunderstandings in the West [particularly here in North America]. The most current issue of The New Yorker Magazine has a cover of Barack Obama dressed as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist in an attempt to mock the ignorant attacks on him [http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/07/14/obama-cartoon.html].

Lastly I’d just like to say that the history of the Baha’i Faith is very important to the Faith, just like every other faith, and that history can’t be separated from the Islamic context it grew out of. Thus in sharing our faith we naturally end up talking about Islam but fortunately we also end up knowing something about Islam to. Personally in such a situation I explain the Muslims believe YYYYY and Baha’is believe ZZZZZ about issue UUUU where the two faiths intertwine.

Thanks – I think this is a wonderful site!

This is a fantastic point and I am very glad you brought it up. Some Answered Questions, is just one resources and just a part of the view. if I may humbly offer my own, and what I believe is shared by most of my Baha’i friends.

God exists and so does a path toward Him, in all spiritual religions. Feeling close to God is something that is a pre-requisite for any faithful believer to stay with their religion. If people didn’t feel close to God in their religion then why would they stay? Of course He is there.

“…whichever way ye turn there is the face of God.” —Sura II, 109

I admit that this understanding is my own interpretation based off of my studies within the Baha’i writings and other religions. Some Baha’is have different takes, as I am sure some Muslims do…But, I hope that at least you know that Baha’is should not, under any circumstance, degrade or detract from Islam. On the contrary, in order to test the veracity of the Baha’i faith a thorough and spiritually guided application of Islam is needed, freed from dogma and rhetoric. The essence of all the religions, I believe is the same. Therefore, when anyone starts to play favorites and push it on to other people…They have missed the point all together.

That poses a threat to Muslims such as myself, who want to teach my religion to other people, as I view the Muslim faith’s teachings. I don’t want someone who doesn’t even practice my religion to be teaching other people what it ‘really means’, and tell them the Baha’i interpretation of Islam, without saying it is the Baha’i interpretation of Islam, but simply as if it were fact.

As I said, I get along fine with my Baha’i friends. But this poses a problem for me.

I hope all is well with you today,

1.) Why are Baha’is called upon to teach “the West”, the true nature of Islam? Why can’t Muslims teach their own religion? Why do Muslims need Baha’is to do it for them?

2.) If Baha’is do teach “the West” the “true” nature of Islam, won’t it be rife with Baha’i interpretations of what Islam stands for, its purpose in the world, instead of what Muslims actually believe about their own religion? What if I told Muslims that they have to teach the world about the true nature of the Baha’i Faith (meaning, good things).

3.) I am a Muslim, and I don’t think I need Baha’is to teach people my religion for me. Your intentions may be good, but I find it to be almost like thievery that you would want to teach other people about your religion’s interpretation of Islam, instead of allowing Muslims to teach people their own faith as they see it. It’s common decency.

4.) I oppose all forms of persecution and discrimination against Baha’is in Iran, Egypt, Israel (yes, even Israel), Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and other lands on this earth.

5.) So if your goal is to subvert Muslim influence by “out teaching” Muslims, and convincing “the West” that your religion’s interpretation of Islam is better than what Muslims actually believe, then I have a huge problem with that. I’m sorry, but I do. How about we agree to stick to our own religions, and teach them to people, and not try to teach the truth of other religions to other people, because we all end up confirming our biases and making other religions appear to be “less than worthy of conversion” in the process. It is just human nature to do that. You can praise something, while at the same time subverting it and making it look detestable, without even knowing it.

That’s all for now.

First of all, we have to clarify what we mean by “Islam.” As there are two mutually exclusive uses of the term.

1) Islam as the overarching single religion of God that began with Adam and goes on eternally. This is the use of the term in the Quran, though it is NOT the most common usage of the term.

2) Islam as referring to the Dispensation of Muhammad. This is not the use of the term in the Quran. Rather the Quran refers to the followers of this Dispensation as the people of the Book, or “the believers,” etc. This sense of the word is the MOST FREQUENTLY USED in society.

In that first sense, Baha’i’s are (again only in that sense) as much Muslims as the deciples of Christ, or early Jews, etc – anyone before or after Muhammad who followed the single true faith of God is a Muslim according to the Quran.

In that second sense, no Baha’i’s are NOT Muslims in that dispensational sense (the most frequent use of the terms Islam and Muslim).

The link, that which makes the Baha’i Faith successive of the Dispensation of Islam (again the first sense of the term Islam has no succession Quranically, though this is not believed to be so in the dispensational sense to Baha’i’s) is that Baha’i’s believe that The Bab (born Seyyid Ali-Muhammad Shirazi) was Imam Mahdi; the Qaim; the one promised to come to prelude the coming of the Return of Christ who would make the sharia universal within a course of time in His own Dispensation.

Baha’i’s believe this “return of Christ” was manifest in Baha’u'llah (born Mirza Husayn-Ali Nuri). Baha’i’s believe Baha’u'llah’s Revelation not only gave renewed and elaborated theological/spiritual explainations for mankind’s guidence, but also gave the blueprints for the establishment of a universal sharia to bring an era of Universal Peace and Justice for all mankind. Baha’i’ continue to follow this revelation in establishing such an era for the good of humanity.

We are forbidden against Jihad, political involvement, partisanship. We actively take part in all sorts of interfaith initiatives and cooperation.

Sounds like the Western version of Buddhism.

The Baha’i Faith believes, as lined out by its originators, that the 12th Imam has returned and so has Jesus Christ in the form of Seyyid Ali Muhammad and Mirza Husayn Ali. Such a bold claim I know, right? It would be be helpful to understand their claims by reading about their prophetic and miracle filled lives. Although Baha’is do not be brag about miracles, there are enough of them documented by believers and non-believers to raise your eyebrows.

To gain initial support in the early days of the Bab’i movement, which was started by Seyyid Ali Muhammad in 1844, the doctrine and teachings were highly expected to be an extension of Shi’a Islam. The Imam Mehdi was expected at this time and there were large groups of people expecting something to happen.

See the Sheikhi Movement here…

Of course the literalists write off anything but a dramatic display of judgment by God and the ground opening up and so forth…

But in short…The Baha’i Faith defines itself from Islam in these defining ways.

1) Baha’is do not pray to Mecca
2) Baha’is have their own fasting period, prayer tradition, Holy Book(s), theology, central figures and institutions, and more over religious teachings.
3) Baha’is require a declaration of Faith
4) The Baha’is Faith is a very organized religion with local, national and international consultative and legislative bodies.

And many more…However I would like to note that a majority of the early Iranian converts were Shia’a Muslims who simply believed in the Imam Mehdi. It developed into a new religion step by step over time and then became the Baha’i Faith with the guidance of Baha’u'llah.

The main point I want to convey is the foundation of the Baha’i Faith is built on the needs of humanity for today and the principles it requires to progress spiritually, politically, economically (as any religion is). These methods are dramatically different but essentially comparable to Islams guidance. However, make no mistake, The Baha’i Faith is simply a continuation of what we believe is the one and only Faith.

Does that make sense?

I’m afraid if there is not a brief answer for your question. tons of pages one has to read in order to fully appreciate the siginificant, though subtle, differences.

I’m not looking forward to my inbox tomorrow morning